Shift Sequences, Duration of Rest Periods, and Accident Risk of Bus Drivers

Abstract

This paper presents a portion of the results of a comprehensive analysis of the etiology of bus driver accidents. This portion of the analysis concentrates on two questions. First, does the sequence of various shifts influence accident risk on a given day? Various analyses led us to conclude that there was no interaction between the type of shift (either stand-by shift or day off) on preceding days, the actual shift, and the bus drivers' accident risk. This leads to the supposition that the actual situation on the working day is an important factor in determining accident risk. Second, is there any interaction between accident risk and the duration of total (added) rest periods during the shift up to the moment of the accident? No such association could be detected. Our analysis and conclusions are restricted to possible effects of total resting time and cannot be extended to possible effects on accident risk of particular rest periods of different duration and at a different stage within a shift.